Tauranga Museum as Magical Theatre

March 7, 2018

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A photograph of a wooden ship under construction — "A museum is a cultural institution that creates three dimensional, voluntary, learning environments where scholarship is given public expression in a magical theatre of value-rich objects, contexts and actions that, by provoking profound emotion and understanding, achieves a societal need generally perceived to be good.“ Nigel Cox and Ken Gorbey 2003

A great presentation this morning (Wednesday 7th March 2018, Tauranga Club) from Ken Gorbey setting out a vision of what a modern museum could be.

Ken drew on a fascinating range of international experience looking at how museums can connect with and become part of the community – not just a distant elite institution as too many people fear. His theme was a museum working entrepreneurially – with young people helping them plan their careers, with the tourism sector increasing economic activity, with local businesses supporting them develop their products and services. It was also a theme of the Museum helping its various communities tell their stories and learn the stories of others.

It was a vision of a museum working from a base, but acting throughout its community to create events, displays, activity and excitement in a way that conventional museums have found it hard to do. It left his audience convinced Tauranga has a real opportunity to do something magical for the entire community and not just selected parts.

The slides from Ken’s PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded for viewing here: Tauranga Museum as Magical Theatre.

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